Method of making labels for cylindrical cores



June 14, 1966 R. E. RISLEY ETAL 3,255,634

METHOD OF MAKING LABELS FOR CYLINDRICAL CORES Filed Dec. 24, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS RALPH E. RISLEY HAROLD w YOUNG June 1966 R. E. RISLEY ETAL 3,255,634

METHOD OF MAKING LABELS FOR CYLINDRICAL GORES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 24, 1963 INVENTORS 5 6 W Y M E v m P M m \ID N OU Hmwm DI .L A R United States Patent 3,255,684 METHOD OF MAKING LABELS FOR CYLINDRICAL CORES Ralph E. Risley, Menasha, and Harold W. Young, Neenah, Wis., assignors to American Can Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 333,069 3 Claims. (Cl. 9573) This invention relates to a method of positioning and aligning images bridging seam lines on labels applied to cylindrical cores, such as, for example, those from which spirally wound fiber can bodies are produced.

Previously it has been attempted to achieve this result by the use of high precision drafting techniques, or complex apparatus, which would enable an artisan to precisely locate portions of an inscription at opposite ends or sides of a label which is designed to be wrapped around a cylindrical core. The disadvantages of such methods lie in the inability of a drattsman to locate two separate images with the necessary precision or in the high cost of the equipment required to enable him to approximate this result.

The present invention makes possible the use of conventional apparatus to achieve remarkably better results than hitherto possible.

A more complete understanding of the invention will follow from a description of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric View of a container illustrating the problem which this invention overcomes;

FIGURE 2 illustrates the layout drawing of a repeating portion of a label, as used in the present method;

FIGURE 3 illustrates the steps involved in repeatedly imposing the image of FIGURE 2 onto a photosensitive sheet material; and

FIGURE 4 illustrates the formation of a spirally wound core utilizing the labels of the present invention.

FIGURE 1 illustrates a container 1 having a conventionally-produced label 2 spirally wound thereon and joined along seam line 3. As seen from FIGURE 1 the inscriptions on label 2 (viz., the portions of the second letter O in MOTOR, and the letter O in OIL, lying to opposite sides of seam line 3) are not in precise registry due to the inability of the draftsman to lay out the opposite ends of a single label with the required precision.

The first step in the method of the present invention comprises either selecting that portion of the label which bridges the seam line or, if possible, one out of a number'of identical portions which repeat to make up the whole of the design of the label. In FIGURE 2 is shown the layout of such a portion 9 of an illustrative label on a sheet of material 10, it being clear from FIGURE 1 that this portion repeats twice in the complete container label illustrated. Center lines 11 are placed upon sheet to provide a guide for precisely carrying out the later steps of the method.

As shown in FIGURE 3, sheet material 10 bearing the portion 9 of the complete label is placed in suitable equipment 12 for repeatedly imposing the image of portion 9 in a line of repeats on a sheet of photosensitive material 13 by a conventional step-and-repeat process. The circumference of the label desired extends between the lines 14 which are tilted from the line of images at an angle 15 which is equal to the angle at which the label is intended to be wound around the core. The number of repeats (two of which are shown at 16 in FIGURE 3, a third lying under sheet material 10) in this line must be at least one more than the number of repeating portions necessary to completely encircle the core and thus make up the total of the printed design. In the label shown in the drawings for illustrative purposes the repeating portion is designed to occur twice in a label of sufiicient girth to completely encircle the core from which the container is formed. Therefore, in the case illustrated in the drawings, at least three repeats must be made in order to practice the method of the present invention, any number of repeats beyond three in fact being excess. In the case where there are no repeating portions in the design of the label, the entire label design may be laid out and photographically imposed twice by the step and repeat process to form a line having only two images. Alternatively, only that portion of the design which overlaps the seam line need be laid out and the image thereof photographically imposed twice at a spacing equal to the circumference of the core around which the label is to be wound. Any intermediate parts of the design may then be filled at a convenient-point in the process.

As shown in FIGURE 3, between the dotted lines 14 there lies one complete or whole repeating portion of the label plus two complementary segments of a second similar portion. The remaining segments of the latter portion, lying outside dotted lines 14 may be eliminated by well-known mechanical or chemical techniques, leav-- lng on the photosensitive sheet material 13 the image of the two desired label portions, one of which is in complete unitary form and the other in two complementary segments at opposite ends of the overall label image. Since these complementary segments were produced from the identical original label portion image, by the stepand-repeat process, they together form a perfectly registered reproduction of this image when the opposite edges of the overall label image are brought into abutment as by wrapping the same sprially around a cylinder. In the case of spirally wound cans each label will have a rhomboid shape, but as will be apparent to those skilled in the art any other desired shape may be used depending on the manner in which it is desired to wrap the label around a core. While this rhomboid shape may be of the same size as the desired final label, it will also be apparent that the line of images on sheet 13 may be proportionately larger or smaller if desired, and then photographically reduced or enlarged to the desired final size.

In commercial practice the rhomboid shaped impression resulting from the steps illustrated in FIGURE 3 will then be used as a master design for ultimately producing a printing roll with which a continuous strip of labels is produced. This master design will, of course, have to be tilted at the correct angle to cause the label to be positioned on the core in the manner desired when wrapped thereon. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, a printing cylinder bearing a plurality of impressions of the labels to be printed can be produced by disposing the master impression so that lines 14 are horizontally disposed, and imposing the impression borne by the master label on a photosensitive sheet in both the horizontal and vertical directions by a conventional step and repeat process. The various methods of producing printing apparatus such as plates or cylinders from the master label are well known to those skilled in the art.

The resulting printing plate or cylinder is then used for printing 011 a continuous sheet of flexible packaging material. This sheet of material is then slit to produce a narrower strip of material 17, which strip is one label in width. The strip 17 is then fed as the outer layer of a cylindrical core 18 formed on mandrel 19 which is rotating in the direction of the arrow 20 seen in FIGURE 4. At least one inner layer 21 of the core is fed onto the mandrel 19 prior to the application of the label strip 17. As shown in FIGURE 4 a narrow margin 22 is left around one side of sheet 17 to enable a small amount of over- 3 lapping of the successive wraps of sheet 17 onto the cylindrical core. The core 18 is then cut into suitable lengths to produce can bodies.

While one embodiment of the present invention has been described for purposes of illustration, other variations will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and accordingly the invention is limited in scope only by the language of the appending claims.

We claim:

1. A method for providing a printed label applied at a predetermined angle on a cylindrical core with opposite sides of the label forming a seam line in said label with a portion of the printed image bridging the seam line, which comprises (1) Providing a cylindrical core on which a label is to be superposed,

(2) Providing the image of that portion of the label which is to bridge a seam line in said label,

(3) Photographically imposing said image on a sheet of photo-sensitive material at each of two locations spaced apart a distance equal to the circumferential length of the label on the dimensional scale used for the image on said photosensitive sheet material,

' (4) Photographically imposing on said sheet in the area between said locations anything further necessary to complete the design of said label,

(5) Eliminating terminal parts of each of said photographically imposed images lying outside of parallel lines spaced apart a distance equal to the circumferential length of the label and placed with regard to the line of images at an angle equal to the predetermined angle at which the label is to be wound around the core, 7 v

(6) Reproducing the resultant image on flexible packaging material to form a label adapted to completely encircle said core, and

(7) Applying said label to said cylindrical core at said predetermined angle whereby the reproduced image portions on the opposite ends of said label are in precise registry on opposite sides of said seam line.

2. A method for providing a printed label spirally applied at a predetermined angle on a cylindrical core with opposite sides of the label forming a spirally shaped seam line in said label with a portion of the printed image bridging the seam line, which comprises (1) Providing a cylindrical core on which a label is to be spirally superposed,

(2) Providing the image of that portion of the label which is to bridge a seam line in said label,

(3) Photographically imposing said image on a sheet of photosensitive material at each of two locations spaced apart a distance equal to the circumferential length of the label on the dimensional scale used for the image on said photosensitive sheet material,

(4) Photographically imposing on said sheet in the (5) Eliminating terminal parts of each of said photo- A graphically imposed images lying outside of parallel lines spaced apart a distance equal to the circumferential length of the label and tilted from the line of images at an angle equal to the predetermined angle at which the label is to be wound around the core,

(6) Reproducing the resultant image on flexible pack! aging material to form a label to completely encircle said core in spiral fashion, and

(7) Applying said label to said cylindrical core at said predetermined angle whereby the reproduced image portions on the opposite ends of said label are in precise registry on opposite sides of said seam line.

3. A method for providing a printed label spirally applied at a predetermined angle on a cylindrical core with opposite sides of the label forming a spirally shaped seam line in said label with a portion of the printed image bridging the seam line, which comprises (1) Providing a cylindrical core on which a label is to be spirally superposed,

(2) Providing the image of such a portion of the label as will in a whole number of repeats produce the complete printed pattern for the label,

(3) Photographically imposing said image on a sheet of photosensitive material repeatedly to form a line of said images, the number of repeats thereof being one more than the number of repeats of said image necessary to provide one complete label,

(4) Reducing the number of portions to that number required to encircle said core by eliminating terminal parts of each of the images positioned at opposite ends of saidline and lying outside of parallel lines spaced apart a distance equal to the circumferential length of the label'and tilted from the line of images at an angle equal to the predetermined angle at which the label is to be wound around the core.

(5) Reproducing the resultant image on flexible packaging material to form a label adapted to completely encircle said core in spiral fashion, and

(6) Applying said label to said cylindrical core at said predetermined angle whereby the reproduced image portions on the opposite ends of said label are in precise registry on opposite sides of said seam line.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 606,993 7/1898 Jenkins 74 X 1,750,294 3/1930 Bassist 95-76 2,279,949 4/1942 McCrum 95-85'X EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner. 

1. A METHOD FOR PROVIDING A PRINTED LABEL APPLIED AT A PREDETERMINED ANGLE ON A CYLINDRICAL CORE WITH OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE LABEL FORMING A SEAM LINE IN SAID LABEL WITH A PORTION OF THE PRINTED IMAGE BRIDGING THE SEAM LINE, WHICH COMPRISES (1) PROVIDING A CYLINDRICAL CORE ON WHICH A LABEL IS TO BE SUPERPOSED, (2) PROVIDING THE IMAGE OF THAT PORTION OF THE LABEL IS TO WHICH IS TO BRIDGE A SEAM LINE IN SAID LABEL, (3) PHOTOGRAPHICALLY IMPOSING SAID IMAGE ON A SHEET OF PHOTO-SENSITIVE MATERIAL AT EACH OF TWO LOCATIONS SPACED APART A DISTANCE EQUAL TO THE CIRCUMFERENTIAL LENGTH OF THE LABEL ON THE DIMENSIONAL SCALE USED FOR THE IMAGE ON SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE SHEET MATERIAL, (4) PHOTOGRAPHICALLY IMPOSING ON SAID SHEET IN THE AREA BETWEEN SAID LOCATIONS ANYTHING FURTHER NECESSARY TO COMPLETE THE DESIGN OF SAID LABEL, 